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Topic: Rye Malt (Read 2419 times)

I just tasted my first Denny Rye IPA and I love the wonderful spiciness of the rye malt combined with the Columbus hops. I was just wondering if anybody has used rye malt in other beer styles besides IPA?

Besides browns, rye is great in APA and porter. You can also use it in something with a Belgian yeast, too. Just think of a recipe where you want a bit of spiciness and a full mouthfeel, and you can add some rye in.

I have never really tasted or had that "spiciness" from rye in a beer. Eating it as I am milling it I do get some spiciness (especially if the malt is fresh). However, i have always had that great "mouthfeel" that rye gives in the finished beer. I will add rye to different beers to help build a mouthfeel even when you want the beer to finish dry. I think that is why it really works well in an IPA.

I have never really tasted or had that "spiciness" from rye in a beer. Eating it as I am milling it I do get some spiciness (especially if the malt is fresh). However, i have always had that great "mouthfeel" that rye gives in the finished beer. I will add rye to different beers to help build a mouthfeel even when you want the beer to finish dry. I think that is why it really works well in an IPA.

Sounds like you are probably under the threshold for % of your rye malt to get that spicy character. That's fine because it sounds like you are getting what you want, but if you decide to go for the spiciness, you probably need to step up your rye malt percentage of your grist. I think Denny's recipe calls for around 20% rye malt and it definitely has a nice crisp little spicy character to it, especially in the finish.

I have never really tasted or had that "spiciness" from rye in a beer. Eating it as I am milling it I do get some spiciness (especially if the malt is fresh). However, i have always had that great "mouthfeel" that rye gives in the finished beer. I will add rye to different beers to help build a mouthfeel even when you want the beer to finish dry. I think that is why it really works well in an IPA.

Sounds like you are probably under the threshold for % of your rye malt to get that spicy character. That's fine because it sounds like you are getting what you want, but if you decide to go for the spiciness, you probably need to step up your rye malt percentage of your grist. I think Denny's recipe calls for around 20% rye malt and it definitely has a nice crisp little spicy character to it, especially in the finish.

According to the version of Denny's recipe in Beersmith (which btw conflicts slightly with other versions out there--it lists flaked wheat, versus wheat malt), yes, it's about 18%. I did a version that due to various calamities ended up 15% rye malt, and that spicy flavor was still very much there.

The so-called "spiciness" of rye must be under my threshold then as well, AND under my friends' thresholds. I have used 40% rye malt in an American rye ale and while I did get the motor oil and huge creamy head (there's nothing else on earth like it), I got no spiciness -- just breadiness. Very pleasant, and worth making again sometime. But not spicy in any way, except maybe from the Hallertauer hops.

Yeah, that's right -- I'm the jerk who thinks everyone else's perceptions are wrong. But it's not entirely your fault. You must all be looking so hard for pumpernickel and caraway seeds that you can imagine that it is there. I don't know........

« Last Edit: July 27, 2010, 06:46:10 PM by dmtaylor »

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Dave

The world will become a much more pleasant place to live when each and every one of us realizes that we are all idiots.

I have had great luck with my rye cream ale recipe. Take a normal cream ale recipe and add a pound of rye malt, change the hops to saaz. Ferment cold with either an american ale yeast or a kolsch yeast. Tasty stuff!